Kazumasa Nagai’s “LIFE” series, ongoing since the 1980’s, brings awareness to the damaging of the environment in Japan at the time and even now. This poster series also highlights the change in Kazumasa Nagai’s design style. It’s style abstract in terms of shapes, but now showcases “tangible subjects.”

These “LIFE” posters all show some sort of animal: a lion, a monkey, a bird, an elephant and the list goes on. What I find interesting about these posters is that in each one of them, the subject, in this case an animal, has its eyes on you. Figure A only has one eye visible from these animals, but the way the iris is drawn makes it seem like it is looking right at you. Figures B and C show both eyes on all animals, with Figure B being much more intense and comfortable. I also would like to appreciate how Kazumasa Nagai added variety within this series of posters. Each of them carry the same message: take care of life, love life, we all need life, but they are drawn and designed differently. Figure A has more color and more blocked out shapes, whereas in Figure B, we can see kind of the marks and lines of where was drawing. Figure C seems much more juvenile and gentle, giving an air of innocence to these animals.

With these posters, Kazumasa Nagai invites his audience to be more aware and careful of LIFE.

 

 Figure A

 

 Figure B

 Figure C

 

 

 

 

bibliography:

• https://www.ndc.co.jp/en/works/nagaikazumasa-life/